The Carhartt WIP Archives

Back in the eighties, when the Western world was deluged by a wave of blue denim, Carhartt’s brown duck work coats entered the streets as an antidote. Detached from their original raison d’être of attiring hard-working men in mines and on railroad tracks, they arrived in our cities as some sort of new anti-denim. Soon after, and largely due to the efforts of Carhartt’s European distributor Work in Progress, the American workwear classic evolved into the international streetwear icon by which we know it today.
 
WORK IN PROGRESS: THE CARHARTT WIP ARCHIVES is the first comprehensive publication exploring that remarkable evolution. Edited by Michel Lebugle and Anna Sinofzik, with texts by Gary Warnett, Mark Kessler and Anna Sinofzik, it features more than 350 images including heaps of hitherto unpublished photographs, artworks, as well as ephemera drawn from the company’s own archives and different private collections, providing an unparalleled look into the brand’s bustling universe.
 
Featuring the extensive story of the brand from its humble beginning to their most popular garments like the Detroit Jacket, Watch Hat, Siberian Jacket, and Cargo Pants, WORK IN PROGRESS is a celebratory, transatlantic stroll through the company’s rich and colorful history. This collection will appeal to both fashion enthusiasts and devotees of American cool.

Gary Warnett is a fashion and culture journalist, copywriter, and consultant based in London. Mark Kessler is a writer, translator, and copy editor based in Freiburg. Ian Luna is an author and editor based in New York. Michel Lebugle is an editor and designer based in Düsseldorf. Anna Sinofzik is a culture editor and writer based in Berlin. 

Carhartt Work In Progress (Carhartt WIP) forms a division of the American brand Carhartt, one of the first company’s to pioneer workwear in the USA. Founded in Europe in 1989, 100 years after Hamilton Carhartt established his business in Detroit, Michigan, Carhartt WIP has been carefully adapting and modifying Carhartt’s core product characteristics for a different audience of consumers who value refined design and quality while remaining true to Carhartt’s brand origins. Since the beginning, Carhartt WIP have built a strong, organic relationship with unknown, inspiring, provocative and upcoming figures in music and sport, becoming an iconic and well respected brand in underground scenes, from hip- hop to skate, from graffiti to cycling, as well as working with labels such as A.P.C., Neighborhood, Patta, Vans, Junya Watanabe and many more. Starting with one store in London in 1997, Carhartt WIP have meanwhile opened flagship stores in more than 60 locations and can be found in over 2500 stores worldwide. www.carhartt-wip.com